


Night Terrors

by chaostheoryy



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Auschwitz, But sue me I just wanted some nightmare comfort, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, May be slightly OOC, Nightmares, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7405435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheoryy/pseuds/chaostheoryy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles is up late one night and discovers Erik suffering from a nightmare. Horrified by seeing him that way, Charles takes it upon himself to rescue Erik from his own mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to angeredthoughts over on Tumblr for supplying me with the nightmare/comfort idea. I'll always be a sucker for a good Cherik prompt.

Charles was up late that night, desperately trying to figure out how he could convince young mutants to see the benefit of his school. They would have doubts, all of them would. They would wonder why a man like Charles cared about their future. They would be worried about leaving their lives behind to start anew. They would keep themselves up at night thinking they didn't belong here.  
  
But Charles was determined. He saw the best in people, humans and mutants alike. They could live in harmony, trust in one another to do what was right. He could teach mutants how to harness their powers for the betterment of the world and show them what it meant to be a part of it just like everyone else. He could show humans that they should not fear mutants but rather welcome them into their lives as equals. Opportunity was at his fingertips. All he needed to do was grab a hold of it.

As Charles began crunching a few numbers regarding the probable costs of some very needed technology, a faint echo drifted down the halls into his office. He furrowed his brow. It had sounded a lot like a shout of some kind. He waited a few moments for the sound to repeat itself but was greeted by absolute silence.

"Odd," he murmured as he returned to his calculations.

It wasn't even five minutes later that the sound returned, much louder and clearer than before. It was most definitely a shout. One reflecting fear and pain. And it didn't dissipate like the last time. The shout became a long scream of agony and Charles immediately identified the source.

"Erik."

Charles scrambled to his feet and bolted down the hall. He reached Erik's bedroom door in no time, listening in horror as Erik's muffled shouting nearly shook the wood. Charles threw open the door and hurried inside to find Erik writhing in bed, eyes still closed as he screamed in response to some sort of terrible nightmare.

"Erik!"

Charles rushed over to the bed and hovered over Erik's squirming form, narrowly avoiding a punch to the face as Erik's arm flew outward. Charles could see the pain in Erik's expression, even with his eyes screwed shut. Every muscle in Erik's body was tight with stress, sweat starting to form on his brow as he fought his nightmare. Charles had never seen a man in such pain before, especially when sleeping.

Determined to relieve Erik from his nightmare, Charles closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temple to narrow his concentration on getting inside Erik's head. When he opened his eyes again, Charles found himself standing in the middle of a place he had never been but had seen far too many times: Auschwitz. Charles' stomach dropped as he looked around him. Brick buildings were surrounded by seemingly endless lines of barbed wire fences. The once caked dirt ground below his feet was now mush as heavy rains pelted the earth. The smell that filled his nose was awful, the scent of unclean bodies mixing with burning wood and flesh. Charles wanted to leave, wanted to cut his connection and return to the comfort of his reality. But he couldn't. He needed to find Erik.

Charles fought the urge to vomit as he trudged through the mud toward the edge of the camp. There were no other figures in the dream, but Charles could practically feel their presence like a weight pressing down on his shoulders. He knew what had happened in this place, knew how many innocent lives had been taken by the monsters who ran it. Even in the dream, the camp was a foreboding hell.

As he navigated his way between two of the worn buildings, Charles became aware of the distant sound of crying. He zeroed in on the noise and began running toward it, circling around the edge of one of the buildings to find Erik at the foot of its stairs, holding onto the dead body of his mother. Charles inhaled sharply. He could see the fresh bullet wound in the side of her head and knew fully well that Erik had just watched her death unfold before his eyes again - the ultimate nightmare.

Charles slowly made his way over to Erik, avoiding looking at the corpse draped over Erik's arms. Charles knelt down beside him and reached out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. Erik jumped, gasping at the contact and looking over at him with puffy red eyes.

"Charles?"

Erik's voice was weak, hoarse from sobbing. The tears falling from his eyes mixed with the rain on his cheeks, slowly washing away the mud smeared on his skin. Charles couldn't stand seeing him this way, so broken, so lost.

"It's alright, Erik," Charles murmured, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze of reassurance, "This is all a nightmare."

Erik stared at Charles as if he too were a different kind of illusion. He gazed at him in disbelief, as if the sight of Charles was too good to be true. But the weight of his past was too heavy. He couldn't feel relieved by the revelation. Knowing this was a dream didn't bring him any comfort, didn't change the fact that he had watched his mother be killed right before his eyes. He had seen things no human should ever have to witness and nothing was going to change that fact.

Erik's face contorted with pain as tears began to flow from his eyes once again. This time he didn't hunch over his mother's body though. He fell right into Charles. Charles immediately wrapped his arms around him, letting Erik sob into his shoulder. The sound of Erik's whimpers were heart-wrenching, leaving Charles feeling hollow inside. He hated this, hated seeing Erik fall apart. He deserved so much better than the pain life had given him. He deserved to see his parents grow old, deserved find happiness.

Charles closed his eyes and brought one hand up to caress the back of Erik's neck, soothingly running his hand over the skin there. "It's alright," he murmured as he gently leaned his head against Erik's, "I'm here..."

He held Erik tight as the man cried, refusing to let him go until his tears eased up. When Erik finally calmed down, he pulled his head from the crook of Charles' neck and took a deep, shaky breath. Charles gave him a small, comforting smile.

"Feeling any better?" Charles asked softly, rubbing Erik's upper arm soothingly.

Erik nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his arm. "Yeah."

"Good." Charles looked up at the sky, realizing the rain had stopped completely and that the clouds were beginning to part. He sighed contently. "Now," he continued as he looked at Erik with gentle eyes, "Why don't you wake up and I'll prepare you a nice cup of chamomile before we put you back to bed?"

"That sounds....Wonderful," Erik murmured, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Charles hummed and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Erik's. He didn't say anything then, just looked Erik in the eyes before closing his own and savoring the contact. A moment later, he severed the connection and opened his eyes to find himself standing next to Erik's bed. Erik followed immediately after, his eyes shooting open and his breath hitching as he abruptly sat up. Confusion gave way to understanding and relief the moment he found Charles standing beside him.

"Charles," he whispered, gazing up at Charles as if he were a blessing.

Charles gave him a comforting smile. "Still feel like having some tea?"

Erik shook his head. "It's fine. I just..." He stopped, sighing as he brought his hand up to rub his face, "I woke you, didn't I?"

Charles felt the sympathy inside grow exponentially at the guilt in Erik's voice. He had just watched his mother be murdered again, and he was feeling guilty for disrupting Charles. Now that just wasn't fair.

"Don't worry, Erik," Charles reassured him, "I wasn't sleeping. I was up late working on some budgeting plans. Besides, you shouldn't stress over the prospect of waking me due to a nightmare. Such things are far beyond your control."

Erik's guilt faded slightly but the agony deep within continued to torment him. Charles could tell that the image of his mother's dead body was still flashing before his eyes even while awake. It simply wasn't something Erik could brush off.

Charles sighed plaintively and contemplated sitting down on Erik's bed to hold him just as he had done in his dream. He was unsure, however, that a very conscious Erik would want such a thing. For all he knew Erik despised the idea of physical contact with him or with anybody for that matter.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Charles asked, desperately hoping he could do something to ease Erik's troubled mind.

Erik looked away from Charles for a moment, his heavy eyes wandering to the window across from his bed where the moonlight was leaking through the blinds. He looked conflicted, mind churning wildly. Charles wanted to peek inside his mind and find out what exactly he was thinking but he respected Erik's privacy, wanted Erik to speak for himself at his own pace.

It took Erik a long moment to finish the debate raging inside his head and, when he finally came to his decision, he looked over at Charles with pleading eyes. It was a look of helplessness Charles had never seen on Erik's face before. He looked so lost, so afraid that Charles' heart ached for him.

"Will you stay with me, Charles?" Erik murmured, "I won't ever ask this of you again, I swear. But will you stay by my side tonight? Please."

Charles felt as if his heart had cracked in two. Erik was in so much pain. There were tears sitting at the corners of his eyes as he pleaded for Charles to stay, as if it were the most selfish thing to ask of a man.

"Erik," Charles whispered as he walked over to sit on Erik's bed, "I would be willing to stay by your side every night if it would ease your mind. So, please, do not fill yourself with guilt for asking that of me."

Erik swallowed and nodded his head slightly, relief finally showing itself on his face. Charles smiled encouragingly at him and reached out to lay his hand on top of Erik's. At first Erik's hand twitched at the contact but soon enough he relaxed and even turned his hand over to wrap his fingers around Charles'. Charles was surprised by that, and even more so when Erik leaned forward to press his forehead against Charles' shoulder. He had never expected Erik to actively seek out physical comfort but God was he glad he had underestimated him. Erik deserved to be shown affection, to be comforted in a time of need. And Charles was more than happy to be the one to give it to him.

Charles sighed and brought his free hand up to gently run his fingers through Erik's hair.

"Thank you," Erik whispered, his voice just loud enough for Charles to hear him.

Charles gave Erik's hand a supportive squeeze. "I'll always be here for you, Erik. Whenever you need me, I will be there."

Erik took a deep, shaky breath, the warm air of his exhale tickling Charles' shoulder. Charles could feel him relaxing and knew that exhaustion was beginning to take hold of his body. Wanting to be sure that Erik was comfortable when he dozed off, Charles released Erik's hand and urged his companion to lay back down.

"Come on. Let's get you back to sleep," he whispered as he gently laid Erik's head on the pillows. Erik's eyes were already half-closed, his muscles completely relaxed. Charles could tell he would be asleep in a matter of minutes.

When Charles stood to pull the sheets back up over Erik's chest, Erik immediately reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Don't leave. Please, Charles."

Charles gave him a soft smile and clasped Erik's hand between both of his in a comforting gesture. "I'm not going anywhere," he whispered, "I promise."

To make sure Erik knew he wouldn't be leaving that night, Charles climbed onto the bed beside him and pulled the sheets up over both of them. Respecting Erik's personal boundaries, he kept a few inches of space between them. However, to his surprise, Erik didn't keep it that way. The moment Charles was comfortable, Erik rolled onto his side, resting his chin on Charles' shoulder and draping his arm over his chest.

"Is this okay?" Erik mumbled groggily, wanting to ensure Charles' comfort.

"Of course," Charles responded softly, bringing his hand up to hold Erik's. "Sleep well, Erik."

Erik took a deep breath and let it out in a content sigh. "Goodnight, Charles."

Within minutes Erik was asleep, his breathing slow and deep. Charles was relieved to find Erik motionless, lost in pleasant dreams instead of horrific nightmares. He supposed he should have found it odd that he was sharing a bed with Erik, but, strangely enough, he was happy to be doing so. He wanted to be there for Erik, wanted to make sure that he was safe from the dangers of his own mind. He cared deeply about him, more so than anyone before. He loved Erik, and he would be by his side whenever he could, day or night.

 


End file.
